Fury vs Wilder IV could be on the cards in the coming months as both former world champions plot comebacks.
World Boxing News can reveal that Deontay Wilder has emerged as a candidate to fight a returning Tyson Fury for a fourth time.
Wilder is on a shortlist of three potential opponents for Fury, who will make another retirement u-turn in 2025.
The other two possibilities are Anthony Joshua and the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois.
If Fury cannot resolve talks for a clash with Joshua or a trilogy with Usyk, WBN believes Fury will turn to Wilder for a massive battle at Wembley Stadium.
The last fight between Fury and Wilder produced the 2021 Fight of the Year. With both free in the coming month, organizers would be foolish not to consider the fourth installment.
Initial sound-out talks between the two camps may have already occurred as Fury contemplates his next move.
For months, an undisputed saga between Fury and Usyk for all the belts put a full stop to the Wilder rivalry. However, Fury has mentioned his interest in a fourth fight with Wilder.
So has Wilder’s coach Malik Scott, as a WBC heavyweight title eliminator with Andy Ruiz Jr. fell apart before the Robert Helenius fight.
The former champion’s trainer told Best Sports Boxing Canada his thoughts.
“It’s down to the mystery opponent and Andy Ruiz Jr.,” Scott told Best Sports Boxing Canada, which WBN believed was Fury.
“The mystery fighter is not as guaranteed to happen as the Ruiz fight. If you’re looking at it from the business perspective, it will most likely be the mandatory shot, Ruiz.
“It’s looking like Ruiz, but there’s no telling in this game as Deontay is big-time boxing. When you’re big-time boxing, and as sad or as unfortunate as it may sound to some people, mandatories don’t mean anything.
“Fighters have stepped aside to make big, big fights happen. This goes on in boxing. It’s what the fans want or what makes business sense for the fighters and their team.
“It’s likely to be Ruiz. But if not, other negotiations are also going on [with Fury]. When you have a big-time boxer like Deontay and a mandatory going on – and there’s another bigger fighter [Fury] – a step aside sometimes happens, you never know.
“Business is willing to be made to make bigger fights happen.”
The pair’s legendary final battle at the back end of 2021 at the T-Mobile Arena remains one of the greatest heavyweight fights of the last two decades. Fury vs Wilder III had everything in a see-saw encounter, with multiple knockdowns in an enthralling war.
Eventually, ‘The Gypsy King’ prevailed to move to 31-0-1, 22 KOs. Wilder lost the saga 0-1-2 after three contests. The first fight ended in a split draw, and the second fight was a massacre.
Fury handed the WBC belt he took from Wilder to Usyk over two fights last year. As Fury’s deal with Top Rank Boxing is over, any fourth clash would undoubtedly head to England, where the pair could draw 90,000 plus.
Fury vs Wilder IV
Dates around October would work for Fury vs Wilder IV as the latter returns on June 27 for a warm-up bout. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ takes on knockover opponent Tyrrell Herndon in Wichita, Kansas, to get back to winning ways.
Wilder may fancy his chances against Fury if he wins next month, as both are now damaged goods following losses.
The 39-year-old hoped to fight in England for most of his world title-winning career when chasing a collision with Joshua, his first choice outside the USA. AJ avoided him for years, and when a December 2023 opportunity opened up, Turki Alalshikh fumbled the ball.
He pitted the pair against separate opponents instead of each other, and Joseph Parker’s win over Wilder ended the argument.
As a Fury quadrilogy comes out of leftfield, Wilder would relish the chance to avenge his Las Vegas nightmare in the February 2020 rematch.
Wilder wore ‘a heavy suit’ to the ring before Fury battered him to a mid-round stoppage. He got closer in the third fight, but would jump at the chance to knock Fury out on his home soil.
With the world titles held up in the heavyweight division, Wilder, Fury, and Joshua could earn millions by finally facing each other over the next eighteen months.
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Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay and learn more about the author. Phil has been an experienced boxing writer and World Boxing News Editor since 2010.
